Soyuz TMA-2A Crew: Padalka, Duque, Kotov. Soyuz TMA-2 was originally to switch lifeboats on the ISS. After the loss of Columbia, and grounding of the remaining shuttles, it was instead flown by a two-man skeleton crew to keep the station alive until shuttle flights could resume. More...

ISS Finally completed in 2010 after a torturous 25-year development and production process, the International Space Station was originally conceived as the staging post for manned exploration of the solar systrem. Instead, it was seemed to be the death knell of manned spaceflight. More...

Soyuz TMA-2A (cancelled) - .
Crew: Padalka; Duque; Kotov. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Padalka; Duque; Kotov. Agency: RAKA. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz TMA-2A. Spacecraft: Soyuz TMA. Soyuz TMA-2 was originally to switch lifeboats on the International Space Station. The crew would have returned to earth in the Soyuz TMA-1 already docked to the station. After the loss of Columbia, and the grounding of the remaining shuttles, it was decided instead that the EO-6 crew (Bowersox, Budarin, and Pettit) aboard the station would return in Soyuz TMA-1. Soyuz TMA-2 would be instead flown by a two-man skeleton crew (Malenchenko and Lu) to keep the station alive until shuttle flights could resume.

The EO-15 crew and EP-13 space tourist Shukor (brought to the station by Soyuz TMA-11) boarded Soyuz TM-10 and undocked from the Zvezda port at 07:14 GMT on 21 October. The re-entry burn began at 09:47 and was normal. But afterwards, due to failure of an explosive bolt, the Soyuz service module remained connected to the re-entry capsule. The Soyuz tumbled, then began re-entry with the forward hatch taking the re-entry heating, until the connecting strut burned through. The Soyuz the righted itself with the heat shield taking the heating, but defaulted to an 8.6 G ballistic re-entry, landing 340 km short of the aim point at 10:36 GMT. Improved procedures after the ballistic re-entry of Soyuz TMA-1 meant a helicopter recovery crew reached the capsule only 20 minutes after thumpdown. However the true nature of the failure was concealed from the world until the same thing happened on Soyuz TMA-11.

International Space Station Status Report #07-20 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Tyurin; Williams; Lopez-Alegria; Simonyi; Kotov; Yurchikhin. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-14; ISS EO-15-1; ISS EO-15; ISS EP-12. Two Expedition 15 cosmonauts spent much of the week in handover activities with their Expedition 14 predecessors. Their new crewmate, Sunita Williams who has been aboard the International Space Station for more than three months, also is helping them learn the ropes. Additional Details: here....

International Space Station Status Report #07-25 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Williams; Kotov; Yurchikhin. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-15; ISS EO-15-1. Summary: A new cargo freighter launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 10:25 p.m. CDT Friday with more than 2.5 tons of fuel, air, water and other supplies and equipment aboard.. Additional Details: here....

EVA ISS EO-15-1 - .
Crew: Yurchikhin; Kotov. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.23 days. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Yurchikhin; Kotov. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-15; ISS EO-15-1. The spacewalk was made from the Pirs module. The crew attached an extension to the Strela-2 boom, then used it to assist in moving 17 debris panels from PMA-3 to the Zvezda module. After some cabling work to prepare the Zvezda module for future docking operations with the European ATV cargo resupply spacecraft, the crew installed five of the debris shields around the forward exterior of Zvezda. The aluminum shields, designed to protect the Russian segment from space junk, were typically around 60 cm x 1 m each with a thickness of 25 mm and a mass of 8 kg.

EVA ISS EO-15-2 - .
Crew: Yurchikhin; Kotov. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.23 days. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Yurchikhin; Kotov. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-15; ISS EO-15-1. Exiting from the Pirs airlock, the cosmonauts first installed the Biorisk microorganism experiment on the outside of the station. They laid some ethernet cable on the exterior of the Zarya module that completed work to allow the Russian segment to be controlled from the US segment. The crew then completed installation of the final 12 debris panels on the Zvezda module to provide improved protection against micrometeoroids and space junk.

This includes inspection and audio function checks of all comm panels (PA) in and between the Service Module (SM), FGB and Docking Compartment (DC1), VHF receiver tests, and an audit of headsets. (The "Voskhod-M" STTS enables telephone communications between the SM, FGB, DC1 and U.S. segment (USOS), and also with users on the ground over VHF channels selected by an operator at an SM comm panel, via STTS antennas on the SM's outside. There are six comm panels in the SM with pushbuttons for accessing any of three audio channels, plus an intercom channel. Other modes of the STTS include telegraphy (teletype), EVA voice, emergency alarms, Packet/Email, and TORU docking support. Last time done 4/15/07 by Yurchikhin & Kotov.) Additional Details: here....

(After yesterday's hardware setup, leak checking of the electronics box and evacuation of the vacuum work chamber (ZB) with the turbopump, the CDR conducted more testing and calibration, uploaded new software from a USB stick to the payload laptop, checked out the software installation and verified the readiness of the experiment. After additional leak checking on the work chamber during the day, Yuri will deactivate the turbopump tonight at ~4:25pm EST. The experiment is performed on plasma, i.e., fine particles charged and excited by HF (high frequency) radio power inside the evacuated work chamber. Main objective is to obtain a homogeneous plasma dust cloud at various pressures and particle quantities with or without superimposition of an LF (low frequency) harmonic electrical field. The experiment is conducted in automated mode. PK-3+ has more advanced hardware and software than the previously used Russian PKE-Nefedov payload.) Additional Details: here....

After wakeup and before breakfast, FE-2 Dan Tani accessed the SLEEP experiment (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight) software for data logging, completing questionnaire entries in the experiment's laptop session file on the HRF-1 laptop for later downlink. (To monitor the crewmember's sleep/wake patterns and light exposure, Dan wears a special Actiwatch device which measures the light levels encountered by him as well as his patterns of sleep and activity throughout the Expedition. The log entries are done within 15 minutes of final awakening for seven consecutive days, as part of the crew's discretionary 'job jar' task list.) Additional Details: here....

After wakeup and before breakfast, FE-2 Dan Tani completed his daily access of the SLEEP experiment (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy & Light Exposure during Spaceflight) software for data logging and filling in questionnaire entries in the experiment's laptop session file on the HRF-1 laptop for downlink. (To monitor the crewmember's sleep/wake patterns and light exposure, Dan wears a special Actiwatch device which measures the light levels encountered by him as well as his patterns of sleep and activity throughout the Expedition. The log entries are done within 15 minutes of final awakening for seven consecutive days, as part of the crew's discretionary 'job jar' task list.) Additional Details: here....

The crew's work/sleep cycle again was adjusted slightly, from yesterday's wakeup at 2:15am to 2:20am EDT (sleeptime tonight at 5:50pm). Tomorrow, work period will again be adjusted by 5 min (to 2:15am -5:45pm).

Aboard ISS, crew rotation/handover activities continued for all six residents involved. Whitson, Volkov, Malenchenko and Kononenko had several hours scheduled between them for dedicated ('functional') CDR/CDR & FE/FE handover activities; in addition, there are 'generic' handovers where crewmembers are scheduled together to complete various designated standard tasks. Additional Details: here....

(To monitor his sleep/wake patterns and light exposure, the Flight Engineer wears a special Actiwatch device which measures the light levels encountered by him as well as his patterns of sleep and activity throughout this week, for the last time. The log entries are done within 15 minutes of final awakening for seven consecutive days.)

For the Russian Sleep study, FE-1 Oleg Kononenko terminated his second MBI-12 SONOKARD experiment session upon wake-up by taking the recording device from his SONOKARD sports shirt pocket and later copying the measurements to the RSE-MED laptop for subsequent downlink to the ground. CDR Sergey Volkov in turn will start his second overnight MBI-12 session tonight. (SONOKARD objectives are stated to (1) study the feasibility of obtaining the maximum of data through computer processing of records obtained overnight, (2) systematically record the crewmember's physiological functions during sleep, (3) study the feasibility of obtaining real-time crew health data. Investigators believe that contactless acquisition of cardiorespiratory data over the night period could serve as a basis for developing efficient criteria for evaluating and predicting adaptive capability of human body in long-duration space flight.) Additional Details: here....

CDR Sergey Volkov in turn will start his third overnight MBI-12 session tonight. (SONOKARD objectives are stated to (1) study the feasibility of obtaining the maximum of data through computer processing of records obtained overnight, (2) systematically record the crewmember's physiological functions during sleep, (3) study the feasibility of obtaining real-time crew health data. Investigators believe that contactless acquisition of cardiorespiratory data over the night period could serve as a basis for developing efficient criteria for evaluating and predicting adaptive capability of human body in long-duration space flight.) Additional Details: here....

Arigato Gozaimasu! Congratulations, JAXA! There is Hope in space! At ~5:09pm EDT, the JPM (Japanese Pressurized Module) of the JEM 'Kibo' laboratory complex was opened and ingressed by Aki Hoshide and Karen Nyberg for the first time, joined later by the rest of the crew who clearly enjoyed the voluminous super laboratory. (Kibo is permanently attached at the Node-2 (Harmony) portside hatch since last night.)

FE-1 Oleg Kononenko performed the periodic (currently daily) checkout/verification of IP-1 airflow sensors in the various RS (Russian Segment) hatchways, including the DC1-to-Soyuz tunnel, and the FGB-to-Node passageway. (This is especially important when the ventilation/circulation system has to cope with a larger crew on board, currently ten persons, and one of the two Russian SKV air conditioners off (SKV-1).) Additional Details: here....